The Ladder: The plan going forward

[Kodos]

Hi guys. Just seeing if we're all on the same page. Right now, I am planning to stick with NCAA 2013 and not bother with NCAA 2014. Also, I plan to keep The Ladder going as long as people are interested.

[Julio Riddols]

Nice. I'm on board.

[MacroGuru]

Im on board for the long haul too

[Eaglesfan27]

I am on board. Might get 14, but 13 is good for me for this league.

[gstelmack]

I'm still here, and I agree that upgrading is not worth it.

[Julio Riddols]

Maybe if the 14 is somehow an amazing upgrade from a game play perspective, then we could switch to 14 down the line, but NCAA 13 is the best EA has done on a game in a while.

[cartman]

Works for me

[chesapeake]

I'm good with 13.

[MacroGuru]

Is this changing? Even with all the hubub for 2014 I don't know if I will get it.

[Kodos]

I'll admit I've become more interested in 2014 recently, but let's stick with 2013 until 2014 can be put through the paces. If we decide 2014 is significantly better, we can always move up later.

[gstelmack]

What is allegedly better from a gameplay perspective?

[Kodos]

The computer is supposed to run the option well now. Running and Passing are supposed to be improved. Safeties respond better to the deep ball now. Whatever the fancy physics model from Madden last year has been added and tweaked. The demo is out now if you want to try it. (I haven't tried it yet myself.)

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I haven't been this excited for an NCAA Football game in several years. The most important upgrade is that the CPU AI seems much better this year, particularly running the option. USC's most difficult opponent this year will almost certainly be Oregon, but in previous year's games they were one of the easiest because the AI ran the option so ineffectively. There are many other upgrades such as recruiting and more realism with recruiting visits (visits later in the year can have more impact, bringing in multiple WR's, QB's, etc on the same visit can cause them to lose interest whereas bringing in a hot shot QB and WR is a "complimentary visit" and can boost the chances of one committing if the other does.) Here is a video I just watched of a human getting torched by the AI option offense that has me really excited to play the demo which comes out this Tuesday:

http://www.operationsports.com/news/638286/ncaa-football-14-video-army-vs-navy/

[CU Tiger]

The only question I have is will they fix the damn pass defense physics.
So sick of seeing LBs intercept balls that are targeted 20 yards beyond them and hence should be 12'+ in the air.

I will not buy 14 UNLESS we switch over and if we do, I will. Really enjoying the concept of the league and want to hang around long enough to have some 1 star players lol

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

I will not buy 14 UNLESS we switch over and if we do, I will. Really enjoying the concept of the league and want to hang around long enough to have some 1 star players lol

Here is where my stance is as well...but I say this every year and then they tweak something in the recruiting or somewhere else that I like and hang my head in shame as I fork over the money...but, I am happy with 13 and how the league is going...

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm in this league for the long haul with any version we use

[Kodos]

NCAA Football 14 Offers Many More Options When Editing Coaches - Operation Sports Forums

This can come in handy if we ever move up to NCAA 2014. You can create coaches with whatever existing win-loss record you like.

Originally Posted by Steve_OS

If you are a fan of editing coaches in the NCAA Football series, or just enjoy downloading the them, NCAA Football 14 offers quite a few options this year.

GoodGameBro has posted the list of every attribute that can be edited for coaches in NCAA Football 14.

Bio

• First Name
• Last Name
• Skin Tone
• Body Size
• Head
• Apparel
• Hat Type
• Glasses
• Alma Mater
• Level
• Age
• Specialty

Stats

• Years Coached
• Wins
• Losses
• Winning Seasons
• Longest Winning Streak
• Rival Wins
• Rival Losses
• Top 25 Wins
• Top 25 Losses
• Bowl Wins
• Bowl Losses
• Conference Championships
• National Championships
• Years at Current Team
• Team Wins
• Team Losses
• Average Recruiting Class Rank
• Top 25 Classes
• Coach of the Year Awards
• Heisman Winner
• Player Awards
• All-Americans
• Contract Length
• Years into Contract

Offensive Style

• Offensive Playbook
• Run Offense/Pass Offense (slider)
• Aggressive/Conservative (slider)
• Sub Frequency (slider)
• CPU No-Huddle Style

Defensive Style

• Defensive Playbook
• Defend Run/Defend Pass (slider)
• Aggressive/Conservative (slider)
• Sub Frequency (slider)

Source - List of editable coach options in ‘NCAA Football 14′ revealed (GoodGameBro)

[gstelmack]

I wonder if that would let us fix the broken coach records from 12 and 13 (where our Online Dynasty coach win-loss records are incomplete).

And incidentally fix the "Coach Prestige" issue that seems to be tied to that.

[cartman]

Cool!

[WVUFAN]

Again, as an outsider, why not do both? Keep the Ladder as is, using 2013, which I agree is excellent, and have either Kodos (see, I got his name right this time) or someone else use his template for a 2014 league, to put it through it's paces. Have a smaller group that is going to get '14 anyway play in it, and if it's good, integrate the two leagues.

[Kodos]

I can't speak for others, but I only really have time for one league. I'm buying 2014 and will put it through the paces in a solo dynasty.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I can't speak for others, but I only really have time for one league. I'm buying 2014 and will put it through the paces in a solo dynasty.

Same here. My time is too limited to play in two online leagues. I am getting 14 for solo play and if the league decides to upgrade that works for me. Either way, this is my one league for the long haul.

[Julio Riddols]

I'll eventually pick up 14 probably, same with Madden 25- But likely well after they are released. Wait and see has served me well with EA games recently. I'll be ok with whatever though, if we upgrade I will take that as an endorsement of the new game and go ahead and pick it up ASAP.

[gstelmack]

I'm sticking with 13 and this league for now, I still haven't decided yet if I'm going to get one of the new consoles, which would impact any purchase of another NCAA. I would prefer to stay with 13 for a while longer.

[Kodos]

We will definitely be sticking with 2013 for at least another season.

[Kodos]

Anyone changing their position now that the game has been out for a while? I've only been able to dabble in 2014 so far.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Anyone changing their position now that the game has been out for a while? I've only been able to dabble in 2014 so far.

No still 2013 for me and not buying 2014

[Kodos]

Has anyone had freezing issues with 2014?

[gstelmack]

To be fair, I'm not having freezing issues with 13...

[Kodos]

Yeah, I think it is probably at least partially my console that's the problem. Last night, there were quite a few mid-play freezes in addition to the one during the postgame show that froze things up permanently.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Sweet...I do wonder if we should all make sure we have NCAA 14 though...as I suspect in time it will get scarce...and thenthye may shut down server support for NCAA 13...

Then again, I wonder if a work around may be paid for "updates" that revamp portions of the game each year.

Will not publish "NEW" game..doesn't say wont update current...

With the news that NCAA 2014 is the last game in the series (at least for now), do you guys think we should go ahead and move up to '14 for next season? It might future-proof us a bit, since I'm sure they won't keep up the '13 servers forever.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Kodos

With the news that NCAA 2014 is the last game in the series (at least for now), do you guys think we should go ahead and move up to '14 for next season? It might future-proof us a bit, since I'm sure they won't keep up the '13 servers forever.

I don't know if I am going to invest into '14 because of the decision and I wasn't a big fan of the recruiting changes.

I am on the fence.

[Eaglesfan27]

I have 14 and am good with either decision.

[Marmel]

I just picked up NCAA 14, my first version in about 5 seasons. What is the ladder exactly? Is it head to head online? Do you take new players?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Marmel

I just picked up NCAA 14, my first version in about 5 seasons. What is the ladder exactly? Is it head to head online? Do you take new players?

It is an ongoing online dynasty with teams being relegated and promoted between various conferences. We are currently using the 13 version but we are debating "upgrading" to the 14 version.

[Kodos]

Also, this is a 360 league, not a PS3 league.

[Kodos]

Here is our current alignment. Teams in the bottom four conferences (WAC, MAC, Independents, Sunbelt) are available if they aren't in italics (those teams are already taken).

[Kodos]

The Ladder History Thread - Front Office Football Central

There's the history of the league so far.

[gstelmack]

I will say that as one of the last holdouts, the price on NCAA 14 is coming down a bit, and I am willing now.

I don't know how things are going with the Pyramid, if 14 is working out better than 13, what the future of online is after the lawsuit, etc, so I don't know if going to 14 is still considered a good idea or if we are better off avoiding the effort and sticking with 13, but I am willing to get 14 if that is the better choice for the league now.

[Kodos]

'14 does have the problem of there being one fewer conference than in '13. We could probably get around it by using Independents for 2 conferences and just having an imaginary split. I'm okay with either way. Anyone have strong feelings one way or the other?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

'14 does have the problem of there being one fewer conference than in '13. We could probably get around it by using Independents for 2 conferences and just having an imaginary split. I'm okay with either way. Anyone have strong feelings one way or the other?

I would love to upgrade to 14 due to better gameplay IMHO. Also, I suspect the dynasties in 14 will be supported for a longer period of time. But! I am good with either decision.

[Kodos]

Are you still doing your AA offense, Heisman defense sliders? We've had trouble settling on sliders in '14.

[Julio Riddols]

I might be able to grab a copy of '14 soon, but not sure how soon. I guess if we could run one more season on '13 I would probably be ready to upgrade by the end of that.

[Kodos]

A'ight. We definitely won't upgrade unless everyone is in.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Are you still doing your AA offense, Heisman defense sliders? We've had trouble settling on sliders in '14.

For 14, I've gone back and forth on a few slider sets for my solo career. I keep alternating between wanting realism and a tough challenge. I can share what I'm using later this week if you want for my solo 14 career.

[Kodos]

That'd be great.

[Eaglesfan27]

Here are the sliders I'm currently using (for a tough challenge):

Offense: Heisman
Defense: All-American
User vs User: All-American
Injuries: On
Fatigue: On
Qtr Length: 9
Play Clock: On
Speed: Normal
Threshold: 20
HFA: On
Ice Kicker: On

Offsides: 90
False Start: 50
Holding: 90
Facemask: 54
OPI: 54
DPI: 25
KR/PR: 60
Clipping: 50
Intentional Grounding: 100
Roughing Passer: 50
Roughing Kicker: 5

Human/CPU
QB Accuracy:5/20
Pass Blocking: 45/70
WR Catching: 40/75
RB Ability: 45/75
Run Blocking: 5/50
Pass Coverage: 50/55
Interceptions:25/25
Rush Defense: 35/90
Tackling: 40/40
FG Power: 45/45
FG Accuracy: 5/45
Punt Power: 45/50
Punt Accuracy: 30/50
Kickoff Power: 45/45

[Kodos]

Didn't you originally do offense on AA and defense on Heisman?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Didn't you originally do offense on AA and defense on Heisman?

Yes. I've messed around with sliders a lot and tried a lot of sets and for me this set gives me the most challenge without feeling too unrealistic. It's based off a set on OS. For more "realism", I go with a more balanced set by Jistic on OS (with my own modifications.)

[Kodos]

The annoying thing with sliders in a league setting is finding a set that is challenging for everyone but not overwhelming for lesser players (like me!).

[gstelmack]

If we need sliders it all (and it sounded like from the Pyramid you did), I'd lean more toward realism sliders than tough challenge sliders.